


A Tale of Two Drop-Outs

by SailorPortia



Category: Little Witch Academia, 少女☆歌劇 レヴュースタァライト -Re LIVE- | Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight -Re LIVE- (Video Game), 少女☆歌劇 レヴュー・スタァライト | Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, Luna Nova!Fumi, Luna Nova!Ichie, Post-Canon, Rinmeikan!Amanda, Siegfeld!Hannah, for LWA, school swap au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21938443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorPortia/pseuds/SailorPortia
Summary: Shiori discovers at last that Fumi didn't just abandon Siegfeld, she abandoned the stage altogether to become a witch. To help her precious kouhai and to satisfy her own curiosity over why her senpai left, Hannah goes to the only person she knows who could help them get to Luna Nova...
Relationships: Hannah England/Amanda O'Neill, Otonashi Ichie/Yumeoji Fumi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	1. The Witch Who Became a Stage Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Worldsinwords](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Worldsinwords/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, friendo! UwU

_The Revue theatre rang with the sound of clashing blades. A duel in mid-progress. Hannah relentlessly brought her twin Scottish dirks down on Amanda's Lange Messer, the metre-long blade scarcely protecting her from the assault. Their revue outfits whirled around them, the trademark Siegfeld coat and the archaic Rinmeikan robes. Before Hannah could press her advantage, Amanda pushed her away with a well-placed kick._

_"You're fucking ruthless, you know that?" she said._

_Hannah recovered her footing. "Siegfeld doesn't believe in half-assing things. You should learn that lesson sooner rather than later." Her eyes strayed to the giraffe in the audience before she refocused on her adversary. She threw herself at Amanda again, feinting with her left dirk and readying a strike with her right._

_Amanda didn't fall for it. She deflected the true blow with a swing of her larger, heavier blade. "Some things are more important than winning."_

_"Not this time." There was too much riding on this Revue. Her hands were tied._

_She dashed forward with her weapons down, seemingly with a death wish. Amanda raised her sword to defend herself, and that's when Hannah struck. She dropped her left dirk and grabbed Amanda's wrist as she closed the distance between them, preventing Amanda from using her weapon. The right-hand dirk homed in on Amanda's shoulder, sliding under the cord holding on her shoulder guard. There was a moment of calm, a split second where their eyes met, faces mere inches apart, a perverse intimacy before their fates were decided._

_Hannah sliced through the cord and the shoulder guard clattered to the floor. Victory._

_She dropped to one knee and plunged her daggers into the pink tape marking centre stage and spun as she rose to her full height again. "Position Zero."_

_"Wakarimasu."_

_Amanda looked at her with something between disappointment and betrayal._

_Hannah averted her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered._

* * *

The disappearance of the previous Frau Jade was one of the most shocking events at Siegfeld in recent memory. Fumi's run as an Edel was over and done with by the time Hannah had applied to become Frau Perle. She had been a fan of Fumi's, and she wished she could've performed on the same stage as the girl she had admired. The hole left by Fumi's disappearance was filled by her younger sister, Shiori, who some believed would surpass her.

Shiori didn't care for that kind of talk.

She had neither seen nor heard of her sister since she left Siegfeld. It was as if she had dropped off the face of the earth. In reality, it turned out she had simply gone to the opposite side of the globe.

On the day of what became known as the Noir Missile Crisis, Shiori, Hannah, and Barbara had been watching a program on horses when the broadcast was interrupted by a transmission of magical origin. Shiori hadn't given much thought to witches or magic—peculiar European anachronisms that they were—but they certainly caught her attention when she saw her long-lost older sister riding a broom with six other girls, chasing after a giant missile.

"Fumi?" Shiori could hardly see the screen through her tears. She had to get Hannah and Barbara to describe what was happening. To her eternal relief, Fumi made it through in one piece, and such trivialities as the revitalization of the world's magic were the furthest thing from her mind. All she could think about was how she could get into contact with her sister.

Hannah and Barbara didn't hesitate to assist their precious underclassman, but knowledge of witches was scarce in their part of the world. Luckily, there was someone around who would know how to get to Luna Nova. Somebody with a background in the magical community...

"Thank you for coming with me, Hannah-senpai," Shiori said as they entered the Rinmeikan school grounds. "I'm not really familiar with anyone from the other schools."

"It's no trouble at all, Shiori," Hannah replied. "I couldn't be happier to help you." Even if she didn't have the Yumeoji sister reunion as a motivation, she would've been curious about what kind of life Fumi had made for herself after Siegfeld.

They asked around for directions to the performance department's practice room, which seemed to be a good place to start. Hannah tried to ignore the stares directed at their Siegfeld uniforms as they traversed the grounds.

Once they found the practice room, Hannah knocked on the door. After a moment's wait, the door opened and they were facing one of Rinmeikan's two towering hotties. Not the one they were looking for.

"Can I help you?" Rui asked, eyeing their Siegfeld uniforms suspiciously.

"Is O'Neill-san there?" Shiori asked, half-hiding behind Hannah.

"Maybe." Apparently Akira's harsh words about Rui's beloved senpai had coloured the girl's opinion of all the Edels. She wasn't going to make this easy for them, was she?

"Look, either she's there or she's not," Hannah said. "If she isn't, we'll look for her somewhere else."

"Rui-chan, who is it?" said a soft voice from inside the practice room.

"People from Siegfeld," Rui answered.

"Really? Who is it?" Tamao appeared at the door and got a look of the visitors. "Yumeoji-san and... England-san! You must be here for Amanda." She giggled.

Shiori frowned. "How did you know?"

Tamao briefly glanced at Hannah and smiled knowingly. "Just a feeling. I'll go get her for you. Come along, Rui-chan."

Rui gave Hannah one last glare before following at her senpai's heels like a well-trained dog. _Oh hell,_ Hannah thought. _Is that what Barbara and I look like around Akira-senpai?_

She didn't have time to linger on that thought, because Amanda had appeared in the doorway. As expected, she was in her practice uniform, a form-fitting black leotard that clung to her body like a second skin, leaving her arms bare and keeping gun show on full display, although her tights weren't enough to hide the toned muscles of her agile legs...

Shiori cleared her throat. "Hannah-senpai..."

Hannah blushed. She had prepared a whole speech to make their case, but she seemed to have mentally misplaced it.

"What can I do for you ladies?" Amanda said, her voice smooth as silk. "Practice is getting boring, so feel free to take up as much of my time as you like."

That prospect was a little _too_ inviting. Hannah needed to get a grip on herself. "I need you."

Amanda's eyes widened slightly, and she smirked. Hannah spluttered in an attempt to recover, but she couldn't get purchase on any of vocabulary.

Shiori was taken aback by her senpai's loss of composure, but she quickly came to the rescue. "What Hannah-senpai meant to say is that we need a favour from you, O'Neill-san."

"O'Neill-san is my father, and I fucking hate my father. Call me Amanda." It wasn't a request.

"Okay, Amanda-san."

Amanda smiled with the kind of charm that explained why even girls from other schools had a thing for her. "Attagirl. Now, what's the favour you need from me, Hannah? If it's a big one, I might ask for something pretty big in return." She fired off a wink that Hannah could feel low in her gut. Hot damn.

"I need you to take us to Luna Nova."

Amanda's warm demeanour chilled like she'd been dunked in ice water. "Is that so?"

"Shiori's sister used to go to Siegfeld, and then she disappeared. It turns out she goes to Luna Nova now. Shiori wants to see her, and you're the only person I know you could get us there."

"No can do, sweetheart," Amanda said. "I don't mess with witches anymore."

"I'm not asking you to re-enrol there, I'm asking you to get us there so we can track down Fumi-senpai. We can't do it ourselves"

"Well, sucks to suck. Find another way." Amanda tried to close the door, but Hannah wasn't letting her get away that easily. She jammed her foot in the doorway and held onto the door.

"There is no other way! How are we going to get to a witch school?"

Amanda grimaced. "I'm not the person to ask. I'm only good at getting out of them."

Shiori pulled on Hannah's sleeve. "Hannah-senpai, it's okay. We'll figure something out."

"Listen to the kid," Amanda said. "I don't mess with magic anymore."

Hannah fumed all the way back to Siegfeld. _What's her problem?_ she grumbled in her head. _It's not like I asked her to rob a bank with me._ Then again, armed robbery was probably less of an issue for Amanda.

She still hadn't cooled down by evening. They spent the rest of the day trying to come up with ways to get to Luna Nova with nothing to show for it. Hannah couldn't accept this. Shiori deserved better than this. She swore to herself that she would do anything to help Shiori. Anything.

A familiar, unsettling ringtone emanated from her phone. She fished it out from her pocket to see that ghastly giraffe emblem plastered across the screen. She realized what had to be done.

"I'll be back in a while, Shiori. Don't wait up for me."

When Hannah returned, she wasn't surprised to see that Shiori _had_ waited up for her. The young girl looked at her in shock when she trudged back into the dorm, battered and exhausted.

"We leave for Luna Nova Saturday morning," she said, voice laden with weariness. "Make sure you're ready." She didn't know if she would be.

* * *

Oddly enough, it had been the things about Amanda that Hannah would've considered off-putting that were the things that drew them together. Her flippant attitude required constant correction, leading to Hannah speaking to her excessively whenever Siegfeld and Rinmeikan met. Amanda was prone to scandals—her transfer to Rinmeikan was subject to much debate—and Hannah was a hound for gossip.

Though Amanda's demeanour was repugnant to Siegfeld's regal sensibilities, even Hannah couldn't deny her talent. She had enough flair for an entire troupe of performers, and her dancing skills were a valuable asset to Rinmeikan. Her school found an even greater value in her devotion to saving her school's performance department.

"What's that about?" Hannah asked her one day. "You don't seem like the school spirit type."

Amanda shrugged. "I'm just looking for somewhere to dance. And I can't let my girls down." It didn't take a detective to figure out she was more loyal than she let on.

"You can dance anywhere, you know. You just need a floor."

"Bold of you to assume I wouldn't settle for a table," Amanda said. "Or a pole," she added with a wink."

"So uncouth." Hannah made a disgusted expression to cover up her own amusement.

Amanda had grown on her. Like a fungus, she would say if she had to admit it aloud. She liked to think that Amanda felt the same way about her, but that girl was probably allergic to sincere expressions of sentimentality. Amanda definitely _flirted_ with her, but she flirted with any girl with a pulse.

She alternated between flirting with Yuyuko and Misora and teasing them about their mutual, yet unresolved feelings. She had seen Amanda flirt with Tamao just to get a rise out of Rui, only to turn around and try to flummox the jealous girl with seductive suggestion. Rui's single-minded devotion to her senpai insulated her from the charms of Rinmeikan's Romeo, but that didn't stop Amanda from trying.

"I know you're not going to stop flirting," Hannah said one day when Amanda's failed yet again to fluster Rui, "but can you give that poor girl a rest? You're just making an ass out of yourself."

"So you're saying I should switch to an easier target?" Amanda smirked. "How about you?"

Hannah's face heated up like one of Akira's spicy ramen bowls. "You aren't going to get what you want from me either!"

"Are you sure about that?" Amanda looked extremely pleased with the result. "You're really living up to your middle name, Rosie."

"Don't make me regret telling you about it!"

Amanda _did_ stop flirting with Rui after that. She also stopped flirting with Tamao. And everyone else. At least, she didn't do it when Hannah was around, given that she then spent that time trying to fluster her instead.

Barbara claimed that Hannah enjoyed the attention, but Hannah didn't agree. Not that she had feelings for Amanda, but if she _did,_ she would never admit it. Sooner or later their differences would become irreconcilable.

And after the Revue, 'sooner' seemed to be the case.

* * *

Saturday morning arrived, and Hannah and Shiori met Amanda outside the Rinmeikan performance department's dormitory. They found Amanda leaning against the wall with a broom propped up next to her.

"Good morning, Amanda-san," Shiori said, waving shyly.

"Hey, kid," Amanda said. She didn't greet Hannah.

Hannah didn't bother with a "good morning" either. "Let's get going. You _can_ get us there, right?"

"Calm your tits, England," Amanda said. "I _wish_ it were actually hard to get there."

 _Back on last name terms, huh?_ Hannah thought. _Fine._ "Then let's get going, O'Neill. We don't have any time to waste."

Shiori looked back and forth between Hannah and Amanda in a very "Mommy and Daddy are fighting" way.

Amanda grabbed the broom and spun it around in her hand before hopping onto it, floating several feet off the ground. "What are you waiting for? Get on."

"We're getting to Luna Nova on _that?_ " Sure, witches rode brooms or whatever, but Hannah doubted it would get them across the globe.

"Damn right we are," Amanda said. "I kept this thing for the nostalgia. Turns out with that whole 'revival of magic' thing it works even here in Japan. There's even a leyline out here. Magic gets around, apparently," she added with some resentment.

"Is there enough room for the three of us?" Hannah asked.

"You can stay here if you want," Amanda replied. "I can take the kid myself."

"As if. I'm not leaving her with a vagabond like you." Hannah stomped over to the broom and mounted it behind Amanda. Shiori sheepishly followed suit.

"Hold on tight, ladies," the ex-witch said as the broom rose in the air. "I've never flown below the speed limit in my entire life."

"Hold onto what?" Hannah felt Shiori's arms wrap around her waist, and she squeaked when she realized she had to do the same to Amanda. If only this happened before their falling out. She grabbed Amanda around the middle, half-expecting the ex-witch to shrug her off. Nothing happened. At least Amanda was concerned with safety.

Without warning, the broom rocketed through the sky, Amanda letting out a whoop. Shiori's arms clenched around Hannah, and Hannah screamed until her lungs gave out.

* * *

Amanda scowled as they emerged from the leyline and Luna Nova came into view. She wanted to turn around and fly back to her new school, but she knew she couldn't. She had given her word. That damn giraffe had pulled them into a Revue, a duel where the stakes were their tenuous friendship. If Amanda won, her life would have never again been touched by Luna Nova; Hannah's victory forced her to help Shiori find her sister. Hannah's actions were made under duress, and she was only trying to help her kouhai, but Amanda was still hella bitter over it. Maybe that wasn't fair of her, maybe she should've just fought better, but seeing Luna Nova again threw those kind of reasonable thoughts out the proverbial window.

They touched down on the grass by the school's entrance. Students stopped and stared at the interlopers. Those who recognized Amanda stared like a dragon had landed in front of them.

Amanda dismounted the broom and swept it out from under the Siegfeld girls. "Here you go. Luna Nova fucking Academy. I got you here. You can find the runaway sister on your own."

"How are we going to do that?" Hannah demanded. "We don't know the first thing about this school."

"Ask around. She chased a giant missile on a broom. Somebody's going to recognize her." Amanda turned her back on Hannah and started to walk away. Word travelled fast in Luna Nova, and she wanted to leave the scene before—

"I'm surprised to see your face around here," said a familiar voice. "For someone so eager to be expelled, you're quick to return."

Amanda turned around to see three familiar faces. Unfortunate. "And you're as uptight as ever, Cavendish."

Diana and her cohorts eyed the Siegfeld girls. "As _charming_ as it is that you've returned, it's against school regulations for students of other schools to be on the grounds."

"You can't just bring whoever you like here," said the girl flanking Diana's right, a girl with a purple side ponytail; Diana's gung-ho groupie, Mei Fan.

"Even _if_ their uniforms are cute," added the girl to Diana's left, a girl with bubblegum hair and a jazzed-up uniform. "Is that why you transferred schools? For fashion reasons?"

"Sure, why not," Amanda said. "Tell me where they let you wear pants and I'll yeet over to that school next."

Hannah went up to Amanda's side. "Who's the princess?" she whispered.

"Think of her as the Akira of Luna Nova." No doubt in some alternate universe Hannah and Barbara were the ones kissing Diana's ass.

"The Akira of Luna Nova?" Shiori looked at Diana with something like admiration. Seriously, this girl and tall blondes.

Diana's brows knitted together as she looked over Shiori. "Have we met before?"

"No. But I think you've met my sister—Yumeoji Fumi?"

"Ah, yes. I should've known. The interloper _would_ be related to one of our school's troublemakers."

"...troublemaker?"

"More of a troublemaker by association, I suppose. She always seems to be at the centre of every disaster. Either Fumi or Aruru." The corner of her mouth turned up slightly.

"Do you know where we can find her?" Hannah asked.

"Just follow the loudest noise," Diana said. "You'll find her eventually."

"I'll be going back to my dorm room to avoid the fuss," Yachiyo said. "You can follow _me_ if you'd like," she added with a wink toward Amanda.

"Yachiyo!" Mei Fan glared at Amanda for some reason. Did she stumble into some absurd love triangle?

Amanda couldn't have followed if she wanted to; Hannah grabbed her by the arm. "She's not going anywhere. We need to find Fumi." She dragged her away with Shiori trailing behind them.

"What's got you so riled up? Are you jealous or something?"

"Who would be jealous over you?"

"Hannah-senpai? Amanda-san? Are we going to look for Onee-chan?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Amanda had a better chance of getting out of her phone contract than from Hannah's grip. _Maybe she actually was bothered,_ Amanda thought. "We can ask one of my old roommates about where to find this sister of yours. I'm curious about what she's gotten up to."

Shiori perked up. "What's your friend's name?"

* * *

"ICHIEEEEEEE!!!"

"Aaaaaaah! I'm being chased by an oni~!"

"You're going to be dismembered by an oni when I get a hold of you!" Fumi had made the mistake of accepting a drink from Ichie; it was laced with a poison that turned her skin red like an oni's. Honestly, the girl was worse than Sucy. Fumi had been at Luna Nova long enough to know better than this. She didn't know why she trusted Ichie so unconditionally. Actually, she did know why, but she didn't want to touch those feelings right now.

Fumi chased Ichie all the way from the cafeteria to their room in the west dormitory. Ichie leaned against the door in an attempt to keep Fumi out, but she wasn't a match for Fumi's unbridled rage. The "oni" barged into the room. "Change me back!" she roared.

Ichie pretended to cower in fear. "Don't eat me!" She waved her wand and Fumi went back to normal.

"Thank goodness that's over," Fumi said, looking at her hands as the crimson colour drained away. She wouldn't have to strangle Ichie after all. "Why are you like this?"

"It's how I show my love." Ichie flashed her a saccharine smile.

 _It's unfair that anyone can be that cute,_ Fumi thought. She couldn't help but be biased when it came to Ichie. When Fumi arrived at Luna Nova, fresh off her failure at Siegfeld, she didn't know a single spell; Ichie had taken her under her wing and helped her catch up to her classmates who were born into witch society. Fumi couldn't thank her enough. It was certainly worth putting up with a few pranks.

Luna Nova was exactly what Fumi needed. Even with the difficult learning curve of magic, she felt so much less pressure to succeed, to stand out. The cutthroat competitive nature of Siegfeld was nowhere to be found—well, as long as Aruru's little "rivalry" with Diana didn't count. Fumi even had friends here. There was only one thing missing... but that couldn't be helped...

"What's that dreamy look for?" Ichie was leaning in too close for comfort. "I didn't realize talking about my love would affect you so much."

Fumi jerked backward. "I was just thinking about what I'm going to do to you next time you feed me something like that."

"No need to be so prickly!" Ichie flopped onto Fumi's bed and lounged out on it like it was her own.

"Can you not do that?" Never mind sitting down next to her, Fumi couldn't even look at Ichie rolling around on her bed. It gave her... feelings.

"Ah, sorry!" Ichie sat up and scooted over to make more room for Fumi. "I just sort of got used to doing it a while ago. Um, before you got here."

"Right." Fumi sat down, unsure of how close to get to Ichie. "Your old roommate... I guess you two were close?"

"Oh man, me and Amanda were thick as thieves back in the day. We got into a lot of trouble together. She got into a little too much trouble. Um, on purpose. She really didn't want to stay."

"That's a shame," Fumi said stiffly. "It sounds like you got on well with her pretty well." Before she could stop herself, she added, "Better than with me."

Ichie looked panicked. "That's not true! We get along great! You're just more fun to tease." She giggled.

"That doesn't feel like we're getting along."

"Don't be such a tsundere, Fumi! Teasing is how I show I like you!"

The words _"I like you"_ echoed in Fumi's ears. There was no way Ichie meant them in the way Fumi would've liked to hear them, the way she would mean them if she were brave enough to say them herself. Instead, she ran away from her feelings. It would never work out.

Then again, they _were_ sitting together on her bed, talking about friendship and their feelings. Ichie, unperturbed by the silence between them, smiled tenderly at Fumi, as if there was nobody she'd rather be with. Maybe...

"Ichie, I—"

There was a knock at the door.

"That better not be Diana here to lecture you again," Fumi warned as she got up to answer the door.

When she opened the door, she did indeed see a blonde flanked by two other girls. However, she only recognized two of them. The tallest of the girls wore a Rinmeikan uniform of all things, and her wild, fiery hair would've been hard to forget. The girl with the auburn hair was an old acquaintance, a kouhai from her old school. It was a surprise to see Hannah England in Luna Nova, and she couldn't imagine what had brought her here. And the girl standing between them... Fumi started shaking just from the sight of her. "Sh-Shiori..."

An unwitting rescue came in the form of Ichie barrelling past her shuddering roommate and throwing herself at the stranger. "AMANDA!" she squealed as the girl was forced to catch her in her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Ichie?" The girl, Amanda, seemed surprised, but recovered quickly. "I'm, uh, sort of looking for your roommate there." She nodded at Fumi.

"Onee-chan?" Shiori trembled at the sight of her. Why was she here? _How_ was she here? She was totally unprepared. She couldn't take this.

Fumi bolted. She pushed past the three girls and sprinted down the hallway. Voices called after her, but she didn't look back. Couldn't look back. Tears flooded her eyes, clouding her vision, but she didn't need to look where she was going. All she needed was to get away as fast as she could.

_A few minutes earlier_

The stage girls walked through the school to Amanda's old dorm room, Amanda leading the way with Shiori to one side and Hannah to the other.

The ex-witch was positively radiating with negative energy. Hannah couldn't tell if it was directed at the entire school or if it was meant for her.

"You aren't leading us on some wild goose chase, are you?" Hannah asked.

Amanda scoffed. "I don't want to be here any longer than I have to. We'll find little Ms. Runaway and then we can all screw off."

"I'm sorry about this, Amanda-san," Shiori said.

"Hey, it's not _your_ fault," Amanda said. "It may be your sister, but _you_ weren't the one who dragged me here."

Hannah squirmed with guilt. "Why do you hate this place so much? I get it's a little stuffy for you, but who wouldn't want to learn magic?"

"I didn't," Amanda bristled. She stomped up the stairs like she was trying to put her foot through every one of them. "I never wanted to study magic. My good-for-nothing 'family' wanted me to study magic, because they needed somebody to inherit my grandmother's legacy for their own ends. They bastards just wanted to use me for my connection to the witch community."

Hannah wanted to disappear. "...you mean like I just did."

Amanda shrugged, but it did nothing to hide her animosity. "But I showed them. Got myself kicked out permanently. Well, it was supposed to be permanent."

"I'm sorry, Amanda. I didn't know."

"Yeah well, you never asked, did you? Not that I would've told you, because it wasn't any of your business."

"I didn't have any other choice," Hannah said. She had been telling herself that since the Revue. She could've thrown the duel. Even if it was for Shiori's sake, she had still forced Amanda to do something she really didn't want to do.

Amanda hunched her shoulders. "Didn't you? You could've left me alone."

"Is coming back here really that bad?" Shiori asked, no doubt guilty for her own part in this drama, however indirect. "Aren't you looking forward to seeing your old roommate?"

"Hmmm." She walked up to a dorm room and stopped short at the door. They had reached their destination. "Well, we're here, so let's see if she even remembers me." She knocked once.

The door opened to reveal a taller, more sour-looking version of Shiori. _Fumi._ Well that simplified their search for her by a few steps.

The former Frau Jade looked like her soul slipped right out of her body. She stared at her little sister in disbelief. "Sh-Shiori..."

The touching reunion was cut off by a little pink ball of energy launching itself at Amanda and calling her name. "What are you doing here?"

"Ichie?" From the look on her face, Amanda wasn't expecting such an enthusiastic greeting. "I'm, uh, sort of looking for your roommate there."

Hannah tore her eyes away from the sight of Amanda holding her ex-roommate to see Fumi's face contorted with emotion. She could almost feel the confusion and pain as her own.

She should've expected that Fumi would run. The ex-stage girl pushed past them and disappeared down the hallway. Shiori called after her, Ichie shouted for her to come back, and Hannah watched her run away again. Amanda wasn't going anywhere quickly with that pink-haired girl in her arms, and Shiori was rooted to the spot in trepidation. It was up to Hannah.

She ran after Fumi like she should've done a long time ago.

* * *

_Stage props slid into place, the lights set for entry positions, the curtain descended in preparation for the Revue to come. The giraffe stood in the audience._

_“A crowded stage, so many schools, too many loyalties. Who knows what bonds will be formed, which will be renewed, and which will be severed altogether?”_

_“Wakarimasu.”_


	2. The Edel Who Became a Witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hannah and Fumi have a heart to heart, Amanda and Ichie and Shiori also have a heart to heart, and they all have a sword to sword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kdsjfhksjdfkjsdfjks sorry for this being so late skjfhskdfkhsd

Hannah ran at full speed after Fumi. Seeing her former senpai's back retreating into the distance stirred up memories of the previous Frau Jade's disappearance. In a way, Hannah had always been chasing after Fumi. She had always admired her, her talent, her pride. A jewel befitting Siegfeld's crown. Fumi had been a role model to Hannah, someone she was sure would one day take the role of Frau Platin, and when she disappeared so did Hannah's goal, leaving her with nothing but doubts. This time she wouldn't just let her get away.

"Come back here, you coward!" she yelled. Fumi didn't so much as hesitate. She kept running, racing down the stairs, narrowly avoiding her classmates.

The chase had to end soon. Fumi had the home team advantage; she knew the ins and outs of the castle-like structure and it wouldn't be too hard for her to lose and outsider like Hannah.

Hannah needed to get close before it was too late.

In her haste, Fumi made a tactical mistake. She disappeared through a door, letting in a flash of sunlight. Hannah followed her, sprinting across the school grounds. Fumi appeared to be heading for a tower beyond the athletic field.

Fortunately, it seemed that Fumi's new witchy lifestyle didn't require the same strenuous exercise as a stage girl's. Hannah was catching up.

Fumi's stamina held out until she reached the tower. Hannah was hot on her heels, and when Fumi paused to open the door, her pursuer seized her by the wrist and whirled her around. Fumi looked furious.

"You aren't getting away," Hannah said, trying to ignore her role model's apparent contempt.

"What I do is none of your business!" Fumi shouted, jerking her arm to try to break free.

"I'm making it my business!" Hannah shouted back. "What's your problem? Why the hell are you running away from your sister? Why did you disappear?"

Fumi's anger abated. She stopped trying to escape Hannah's grip. "It's... complicated." Her conflicting emotions were written across her face. Gone was the proud expression Hannah had always seen her wear at Siegfeld. Now all she saw was shame.

"Can we walk?" Fumi asked. When Hannah looked at her with suspicion, she rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to try to run off again. You'd just catch me anyway."

"Alright," Hannah said. She let go of Fumi's wrist and followed her inside. The interior of the tower was just a spiral staircase circling a giant column of stone. Fumi started up the stairs and Hannah trailed after her, cautiously coming up alongside her.

"I never would've caught up to the old Fumi," Hannah said.

"The old Fumi isn't around anymore." She didn't look at Hannah when she spoke.

"I guess not. So now you're a witch?"

Fumi snorted. "Depends on who you ask. I don't come from a witch family, so that makes me a 'commoner.' It isn't easy learning magic at this level when you're starting from nothing."

Hannah couldn't imagine why Fumi would put herself in that difficult situation. "Then why did you come here, of all places?"

"I wanted to get as far away as possible," Fumi said.

"Far away from what, exactly?" From Siegfeld? From Shiori?

"From the stage."

That was maybe the last thing Hannah wanted to hear from her role model. Why would Fumi give up performing? Hannah had heard the nasty rumours circulating about Fumi, that she wasn't as good as everyone thought, but that wouldn't have been enough to send her packing. She was too proud for that.

None of it explained why she never said anything to Shiori about it. You don't need to cut your sister out of your life to transfer schools. Leaving Siegfeld was Fumi's decision, but ghosting Shiori wasn't fair to her.

Hannah didn't know if she should pry or not. It was Shiori that Fumi needed to explain herself to. She was just a minor character in their family drama.

They reached the top of the stairs, stepping into a circular room that was open to the elements with columns in place of walls. Floating in the centre of the room was a large blue crystal that shimmered with magic.

Fumi took a seat and gazed at the lustrous stone. "I like to come up here sometimes." To be alone, was the subtext. "That's a Philosopher's Stone, by the way. It generates magical energy. It used to be the source of magic that Luna Nova used to power everything. Wands, brooms, stuff for the faeries. I was fascinated with it when I first came here. After magic was restored, the school didn't need it anymore, but the old rock's still hanging around."

"But enough about me," Fumi said. "What have you done for yourself since I last saw you? You always showed potential."

Hannah was annoyed at herself for being flattered that Fumi was asking about her. She knew it was just a distraction tactic, but she indulged her old senpai's curiosity. All in the interest of bringing the conversation back to Shiori, of course.

"I'm the new Frau Perle," she said as she sat down next to Fumi. "Barbara's an Edel too. Remember her?" Hannah wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. Barbara was never one of her fans.

Fumi smiled. "Frau Perle, huh? I guess congratulations are in order. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't become the new Frau Jade when I left."

"Not me. Shiori." Shiori was never meant to take on Fumi's title. They were supposed to perform on the same stage. Their talents combined would have been show-stopping.

"I... I see."

"She misses you," Hannah said. "I miss you too," she added, clearing her throat to try to cover her embarrassment over the admission, "but that's not important. Can't you just talk to her?"

"It's not that simple."

Hannah groaned. "Why am I surrounded by thick-headed girls?"

Fumi finally turned to face Hannah. She was grinning. "You mean like that other girl? Amanda, was it?"

"I suppose."

"That was a Rinmeikan uniform, wasn't it? How's she involved in all this? Is she friends with you and..." Fumi couldn't seem to bring herself to say her sister's name.

"I'm not sure we're really friends right now," Hannah said. "I sort of twisted her arm to get her to take us here."

"Wow, Hannah. You really don't know how to mind your own business." Fumi laughed. "So tell me about this Amanda girl,"

"She's, well, infuriating. She doesn't take anything seriously except dance, which is annoying because she's stupidly good at it. Seriously, her ballet might even be better than Akira senpai's. She's got these legs—" Hannah blushed. "Anyway, she's infamous for wreaking havoc at her own school and the others every time they meet up."

"Troublemaker, huh?" Fumi chuckled. "That's relatable."

"Are you talking about the pink-haired girl who pounced on Amanda?"

"Yeah, that's Ichie. Apparently she and your Amanda were roommates before I got here." Hannah watched Fumi's face instantly soften as she started talking about her roommate. "She's a piece of work, but she also helped me catch up on all this magic stuff. I can't express how grateful I am to her."

Hannah scowled. "Nice to know you're always bad at telling people things. Why didn't you say anything to Shiori? Did you really think everything was just going to be okay if you just left without telling anyone?"

Fumi looked away. "Why are you being so pushy about this? Why do you care?"

"Hey! It's not like I'm doing this for myself! It's for Shiori!"

"You're ruining your friendship with that Amanda girl just for Shiori's sake?"

"Look, I already know I messed up there." Hannah hoped she could patch things up with Amanda. It wasn't that Amanda was so vindictive she wouldn't forgive her, but she wasn't the type to put up with other people's bullshit. But that wasn't a problem she could fix right now.

She took a deep breath. "You weren't just Shiori's idol, okay? You were mine too. I wanted to reach your level so we could perform together—and then you left before that could happen. It felt like the rug was pulled out from under me. And if that's how hard it's been on me, imagine how hard' s been on Shiori."

"Please, just talk to her."

"I don't know if I can do that. If I could, neither of us would be here."

* * *

Amanda was the last person Ichie expected to see at Luna Nova. She was so excited to see her old friend again that she jumped into her arms without thinking. It took her a few seconds to notice that Amanda wasn't alone. Her ex-roommate was accompanied by two sharply-dressed girls: a cutie with auburn hair and a short blonde who was strikingly familiar...

Apparently Fumi recognized her too, because she zoomed down the hallway to get away from her. The auburn-haired girl ran after her and they disappeared without a trace, save for the shouts echoing after them.

"Damn, Amanda said. "And I thought I was the only person who could make her that mad."

"Um, should we go after them?" Ichie asked. She fidgeted uncomfortably in Amanda's arms.

"Not sure." Amanda said. Her eyes flickered over to the blonde, who was still frozen in place. She looked to be on the verge of tears. "I'm sure Hannah can run her down on her own. Besides, how am I going to chase down anyone when I'm carrying you?"

"Just put me down then!" Ichie giggled as Amanda let out an exaggerated groan while letting her down.

"Um." The blonde inclined her head to Ichie. "My name is Yumeoji Shiori. I'm, um, Fumi's younger sister."

"Wow! It's a mini-Fumi!" Ichie was astounded. Here she was looking at a smaller, softer version of her roommate. "I'm Otonashi Ichie! Nice to meetcha!" She drew Shiori into one of her customary hugs. Wouldn't want her to feel left out!

"Oh!" Shiori gasped. "Um, thank you?" She seemed to be unused to this kind of open affection. Accordingly, Ichie released her and dropped back.

"I didn't know Fumi had a sister!" she said. Which was to say,  _ "Why didn't Fumi tell me she had a sister?" _ After so many conversations about Fumi having a non-magical family, why didn't Shiori ever come up?

"I didn't know Onee-chan was a witch until a few days ago," Shiori replied. "She never told me she had a nice roommate."

"Gosh, if the normal-sized Fumi was this sweet, it would be way easier for me to talk about my feelings—"

"Cool it with the comparisons," Amanda said. "I think she might have a complex about that."

Sure enough, when Ichie looked at Shiori, the younger girl's lips were pursed slightly. The reaction was subtle; Ichie wouldn't have noticed if Amanda hadn't pointed it out. "Sorry!" she said quickly. "It's just that you look so much like her... it's hard not for me to see you and not think of her."

_ Oh god, _ Ichie thought.  _ That must've sounded so gay. _

"Are you... close with my sister?" Shiori asked.

"Not just close!" Ichie bragged. "We're best buds! And that's why I know exactly where Fumi's going to go. We can probably catch her if we go quick. Maybe we can find your friend on the way there."

Ichie led the others down the stairs and out of the dormitory. There was only one place Fumi would go if she were upset. When Fumi first transferred, Ichie noticed she would disappear for long periods of time during the off hours. Naturally curious about her new roommate, Ichie took to following her around and soon discovered Fumi's secret spot. She never told anyone else, but whenever she noticed Fumi was feeling down she would pop over to the Full Moon Tower to distract her from her woes. When she realized Ichie wasn't going anywhere, Fumi started opening up to her. At least, Ichie  _ thought _ Fumi had started opening up to her.

"So what's brought you guys to Luna Nova?" Ichie asked. "It's an awful long way to travel just to visit family, especially during school hours."

Shiori explained her situation, Siegfeld and the Edel system, how she had been practicing relentlessly to reach the same heights as her sister so they could perform together, how Fumi had disappeared without a trace or so much as a word to her sister. "Onee-chan betrayed Siegfeld," she concluded.

"Never mind Seatbelt," Ichie said. "Fumi betrayed you! She left her little sister behind. What the heck? When we find her I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."

"I'm sure she has her reasons," Amanda said with a shrug.

Ichie frowned at her. "How could anyone have a legit reason to ghost their family without telling them anything?"

Amanda shrugged again. She had never been one to talk about her family, but when she had it had never been in flattering terms. Sure, Amanda didn't have any trouble coming up with a few reasons, but they didn't really apply in Fumi's case. Ichie couldn't imagine why anyone would abandon Shiori. Hell, she was getting pretty attached to her herself. And not just because she resembled Fumi.

The trio exited the school and Ichie led them toward the Full Moon Tower. "Don't worry," she said, glomping onto Shiori's arm. "I'm on your side! I'm not going to let Fumi get away with this just because I—because she's my roommate. We've been through a lot together, so I'm sure she'll listen to me!"

Shiori perked up slightly. "Were you there with my sister when she fought that magic missile?"

"You bet! Man, that was a wild ride! All of Aruru's buddies were there." Ichie elbowed Amanda. "That could've been you if you stuck around."

Amanda stepped slightly to the side. "Eh? Sounds like more trouble than I'd want to get involved with, and that's saying something."

"You say that, but here you are, breaking back into your old school, stirring up trouble like you used to."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I got dragged back here against my will by Shiori's harpy of a senpai."

"Oh?" Ichie grinned. "You mean the cutie you guys showed up with?" She was eager to get acquainted with any girl who could get Amanda to do something against her own interests. "She must have something over you, huh?" Wink wink, nudge nudge.

"It's complicated," Amanda said. "There's a pain-in-the-ass giraffe involved."

"Eh? Giraffe?"

"Please don't think too badly of Hannah-senpai," Shiori said. "She was just looking out for me. I'm sorry my family drama has caused you so much trouble, Amanda-san."

"It's not your fault Hannah decided to be an ass," Amanda replied sourly. "She made her decision."

"Aren't you being a little too hard on her?" Ichie suggested. "Is it really that bad that you had to come back here? Didn't you miss me?" Of course she didn't like the idea of Amanda being pressured to return to Luna Nova, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't thrilled to see her ex-partner in crime again. As expected when two people moved to opposite sides of the planet, Ichie had lost touch with Amanda soon after the latter was expelled. There weren't a lot of ways to stay in contact at Luna Nova, where modern technology was banned, but it still kinda hurt, y'know?

"I missed you," Ichie said.

Amanda rolled her eyes, grinned, and pulled Ichie into a headlock. "Of course I missed you, dummy," she said as she gave her a noogie. "I should've visited you sooner. My bad."

Ichie faked a shriek and pushed Amanda's fist away. "If you're gonna noogie me until I'm bald, you can stay away!" she said through her giggles.

"Maybe I'll come back again. By choice this time."

"Amanda-san, please forgive Hannah-senpai," Shiori implored. "I'm sure she regrets what she did. Please don't let this ruin your friendship."

"It's not like there's that much to ruin," Amanda said, looking away. "I won't lose any sleep having one less snob in my life."

"Amanda is never honest about her feelings," Ichie whispered to Shiori. "She must like this Hannah a lot."

"I can hear you, you know."

Ichie snickered. "Good!"

Amanda scowled and talked to Shiori over Ichie's head. "Anyway, don't worry about me and Hannah. Just focus on what you're going to say to your deadbeat sister when we finally find her."

Ichie swallowed a defence of her roommate. Due to the frequent bullying Fumi experienced for being a commoner, Ichie had developed a reflex to protect her, but she wasn't sure she had a right to do that in this situation. She didn't want to dismiss Shiori's hurt feelings. The best thing she could do was hang back and help the sisters reconcile when the time came.

The girls reached the entrance of the New Moon Tower. "Fumi should be at the top," Ichie said. "She likes to hide there when she's upset."

Shiori pursed her lips. "Is she upset often?"

"Um, sometimes... but it's not like she's depressed or anything, as far as I know..." Ichie wasn't sure what she was supposed to say, or what Shiori wanted to hear. She didn't want to make Fumi's little sister worry about her too much, but Ichie also didn't want her to think that Fumi was having the time of her life without her. Ichie couldn't help but feel that this wouldn't have been such a problem in the first place if getting Fumi to talk about her feelings wasn't like pulling teeth.

* * *

Amanda didn't know how she got involved with this messy family drama. Actually she did know; it was all Hannah's fault. Well, not  _ all _ Hannah's fault. That damn giraffe was the one who forced things to go this way. Amanda hadn't forgiven Hannah yet, but she could see why Ms. Bossy-Pants thought it why this Fumi chick needed an intervention. But it was still pretty fucking frustrating that Amanda had to be dragged into this.

As annoyed as she was at Hannah, Amanda had to admit that some good had come out of the fiasco. It took seeing Ichie again to realize how much she missed her, and she felt guilty as hell about it. She could've done more to stay in touch with her old partner-in-crime, and she resolved to work on that in the future. Her sole consolation on that front was that she wasn't as bad as that Fumi. At least Ichie knew why she fucked off to another school.

The trio trudged up the seemingly endless stairs. Amanda groaned. "I get that this place's whole thing is magic or whatever, but would it kill them to put in an elevator?"

"An elevator wouldn't get that much mileage since students aren't really supposed to be here," Ichie said. "It's pretty much the only rule Fumi's cool with breaking."

"It's hard to imagine you choosing to hang with anyone who's got a stick up their ass."

"Yeah, she's been telling me to go on the straight and narrow for a while, but I don't do straight," Ichie replied with a nervous chuckle.

The pun wasn't lost on Amanda. Ichie had always been open about liking girls back when they were roommates. Under ordinary circumstances, Amanda would be roasting her within an inch of her life over her crush. As it were, even the ex-witch had enough tact not to joke about Ichie wanting to jump Fumi's bones right in front of the latter's little sister.

The girls reached the top of the tower (finally!) and, sure enough, Fumi was there. Hannah too, which wrapped things up nicely.

"Onee-chan!" Shiori took a step forward, only to fall back when Fumi just as soon took a step away from her.

Amanda, picking up on Shiori's hesitation, gave her a literal and metaphorical push. "Go get her, kid."

Shiori steeled herself and took another step toward her sister. "There's nowhere to run."

"Don't worry," Ichie stage-whispered to Amanda, "Fumi is terrible at metamorphosis magic, so she won't be flying away."

Fumi took another few steps backward. Hannah grabbed her arm. "Fumi-senpai, we talked about this."

Fumi shook her head. "I can't do this."

She tried to get away, but Hannah wasn't having any of it. "Just talk to her. Please."

"C'mon, Fumi," Ichie pleaded. "You've gotta miss your sister, right? Can't you just talk to her?"

Never mind talk to Shiori, Fumi could barely stand to look at her. Shiori was losing confidence. At this rate, nothing would get resolved.

Amanda took matters into her own hands in the most Amanda way possible.

She put an arm around Shiori's waist. "You don't need to waste time on that loser. You should just replace her with a new onee-san."

"A-Amanda-san?"

Shiori was flustered by the sudden attention. Hannah mostly seemed confused. Fumi, however, looked in Shiori's direction for the first time and she appeared none too happy with this development. All according to plan.

Amanda decided to kick it up a notch. "What do you say, kid?" She put a hand on Shiori's chin. "How about I make you forget all about that troublesome sister of yours?"

She didn't know a lot about this Fumi, but there was no way a straight-laced girl like her was going to let a delinquent like Amanda put the moves on her little sister.

"Who the hell are you!?" Fumi fumed. "And what the hell are you doing to my sister?"

"That's my old buddy, Amanda," Ichie said, as if that was what Fumi wanted to hear.

Fumi just about burst a blood vessel. "The one who got kicked out for setting a balrog loose from the dungeons!?"

"That's not all I'm gonna set loose, if you know what I mean." Amanda winked. Hopefully her intense flirting wasn't going to traumatize poor, innocent Shiori.

Fumi rushed forward to untangle Amanda from her sister (and presumably toss her off the tower), but she was held back by Hannah, who was still gripping her arm to keep her from running off. "Let me at her!"

Hannah looked back and forth between the two drop-outs, unsure of what to do.

"What are you going to do, Fumi?" Amanda taunted. "Scare the rude girl away from your  _ precious _ little sister then go right back to ignoring her, business as usual?"

"Hey, that's not—"

"She's right, Onee-chan," Shiori said. "If you're not going to be part of my life, you don't get any say in who I choose to date."

Fumi balked at the rebuttal. "I-I'm not—this and that are totally different things!"

"Hey guys," Ichie said, "let's just talk this out. It's the only way to settle things, right?"

Everyone froze as a particular ringtone emanated from the stage girl's cell phones and the witches' wands.

Amanda fished her phone out of her pocket and glared at the giraffe icon on the screen. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

* * *

Fumi had decided an eternity ago that she would never return to the stage, but apparently fate had other ideas. When she opened her eyes, she was atop a stage with arena seating surrounding it from every side. Spotlights illuminated the stage and she saw that she was standing at one end of the stage alongside that Amanda girl; on the other side were Ichie, Hannah, and...

"Shiori..." How had things come to this? They had once been so close, then so distant, and now they were facing off against each other.

The girls appeared ready for battle. Fumi held a short, notched blade she recognized as a sword-breaker, and the other girls wielded blades as well. Except for Ichie, who was carrying a war fan for some reason. They all appeared to be dressed in uniforms; the Siegfeld girls past and present wore a military-style outfit with a jacket hanging off the shoulders like a cape, whereas Amanda and Ichie wore what appeared to be a mix of traditional Japanese robes and samurai armour.

"What the heck is going on?" Ichie shouted, staring from one girl to another. "I mean, these outfits are cute, but what's with all the weapons?"

"Where are we?" Fumi asked. When she looked to the non-witches, they seemed less surprised at their surroundings so much as grimly resigned to them. "What's going on?"

"It's a battle between stage girls," Shiori said, staring resolutely at Fumi. "A Revue to test the strength of our resolve through a duel with weapons forged from our feelings."

Fumi gulped. Merely  _ talking _ to Shiori was more than she was capable of, never mind clashing swords with her.

"But I'm not a stage girl," Ichie said, interrupting Fumi's internal crisis. "I've never even performed."

"You're a stage girl by association," Amanda said.

"Oh. Yay!"

Amanda cleared her throat, catching Fumi's attention. "So, um, now that you've got a big fucking knife you can use on me, I kinda feel the need to point out that I'm definitely not interested in your little sister."

"Believe it or not, a delinquent flirting with my sister is actually the least of my troubles right now.

"You're taking this pretty well," Amanda noted, vaguely gesturing at everything around them with her metre-long sword.

Fumi shrugged. "I helped take down a missile while riding a broom. Becoming a witch sort of forces you to adapt to weird situations."

A deep voice spoke from the audience seating. A giraffe of all things.  _ "The actors have taken their places on the stage." _

Ichie perked up. "Oh,  _ that's _ the giraffe!"

_ "Those who left, those who were left behind. An abyss of wounded feelings. The despair of abandonment, the misery of isolation. The feelings of resent renewed through reunion—" _

"Isn't that last part your fault in the first place?" Amanda interrupted.

_ "The curtain rises, and the stage girls act out their feelings." _

"Hey, don't ignore me."

The lights were extinguished, then each of the girls were spotlighted in turn to introduce them to the fictive audience.

"Rinmeikan School for Girls, Performance Department, Amanda O'Neill."

"Luna Nova Magical Academy, former Frau Jade, Yumeoji Fumi."

"Siegfeld Institute of Music, Frau Perle, Hannah England."

"Siegfeld Institute of Music, Frau Jade, Yumeoji Shiori."

"Um, I didn't have anything prepared but, uh, here goes! Luna Nova Magical Academy, everyone's idol, Otonashi Ichie!"

_ "Let the Revue begin!" _

Shiori and Hannah wasted no time. They rushed at Fumi in unison, Shiori raising her sabre as Hannah readied her twin dirks. Before they could close in on her, Fumi whirled to the side, putting Shiori between herself and Hannah, and she caught her sister's blade between the notches of her sword-breaker.

"Why did you betray Siegfeld, Onee-chan?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"I can never understand if you don't tell me."

But Fumi could never tell Shiori why she left. She twisted her sword-breaker to release Shiori's sabre, then made a strike of her own. The quicker this Revue was over, the sooner she could escape from this nightmare.

Shiori parried her sister's blade, stepping to the side to allow Hannah room to swipe at Fumi with her daggers. "Hey, a little help here!?" Fumi yelled.

"No can do, Fumi," Ichie said as she deflected a blow from Amanda's Lange Messer. "Even if I wasn't miffed at you for not talking to your sister, I've got my hands full scolding this numbskull."

Amanda ducked a blow from Ichie's war fan. "Hey, you can't get after me for leaving Luna Nova. You know why I don't want to associate with magic."

"I'm not mad at you for rejecting witch society," Ichie said. She landed a hit, slamming the blunt part of her fan down on Amanda's head. "I'm venting my feelings about my partner-in-crime moving away and not giving me so much as a phone call!"

"Ow! Holy shit, I'm sorry! Okay?"

"Did you even think about me before your girlfriend dragged you here?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Amanda and Hannah objected in unison.

Fumi took advantage of Hannah's momentary distraction to slash at the cord holding up her jacket. If she could get rid of Hannah, she might be able to handle—

Shiori blocked the strike with her own sword. "You can't dismiss us that easily, Onee-chan. Did you even stop to think about how leaving would hurt the people who care about you?"

"Leaving was the better option," Fumi said as she retreated. "Didn't either of you think I might've had a reason for disappearing?" Shame crept into her voice like a physical blockage in her throat.

"What could excuse abandoning your sister without even telling her what's going on?" Hannah said, raining down attacks on her former senpai. "I always admired you, Fumi-senpai, but I can't understand why you would do this."

"You were never supposed to understand," Fumi said, gritting her teeth as she did her best to deflect Hannah's blows. "

"Did you assume nobody would try to find you? Try to find out why you did this to us?" Hannah advanced on Fumi, pushing her to give up ground, and in doing so left Shiori behind. "We wanted to stand on the same stage as you. You were our ideal."

"That was your mistake." With only one combatant to focus on, Fumi made her move. Before Hannah could react, Fumi lashed out with her blade, neatly severing Hannah's jacket from her uniform and sending it crumpling to the floor. Even a disgraced former Edel could give a shocking performance. "I'm not worth idolizing."

"Whoa, edge lord Fumi incoming," Ichie said. "I had no idea you were so angsty."

Amanda smirked. "Guess she doesn't talk to you about her problems either, huh?"

"Yeah, what the heck? Fumi is such a—" Ichie yelped as Amanda's sword cut through her shoulder guard and eliminated her from the Revue. "That was a dirty, no-good trick!"

"Since when have I ever played by the rules?"

"I mean,  _ yeah, _ but," Ichie let out an exasperated sound, "I wasn't done lecturing you!"

"I'll give you my new number and you can shout my ear off when I get home."

"I'll take you up on that~!"

As glad as Fumi was for her favourite witch resolving her part of the Revue, her happiness was swallowed by the agony of having to fight Shiori. The whole reason she left was because she  _ didn't _ want to hurt her sister. Is that what she would be doing if she won? Would it hurt her less to admit to everything? It was a question Fumi didn't want to answer.

"Oi, delinquent," she shouted at Amanda. "Aren't you going to pitch in?"

Amanda picked at her own ear with her finger in the most obnoxious display of performative disinterest Fumi had ever seen. "Eh? That's your business. Just because the giraffe put us on the same side of the Revue doesn't mean we're friends or anything. Sort this out yourself."

"You—" Fumi didn't have time to utter an insult; Shiori came at her with renewed ferocity. It was difficult to see in this girl the sickly child who Fumi used to take care of. Shiori had grown in her older sister's absence. Fumi had missed so much of her life.

"I need answers, Onee-chan. Why did you betray Siegfeld?" Their blades locked together in a stalemate.

"I never betrayed Siegfeld. I betrayed you." The words broke Fumi as they left her mouth.

"I don't understand," Shiori said, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. "You would never betray me. You're my big sister. Just tell me what's wrong."

"I can't," Fumi said, choking down a burning feeling in her throat. "You would hate me, and I'd deserve it. That's why I left. I couldn't stand to lose you that way."

"Oh, get over yourself."

Amanda's words were the only warning before her Lange Messer cut free Fumi's jacket. She had lost, stabbed in the back. There was probably some poetic justice in that. Shiori seemed to be just as surprised as her sister that Amanda had switched sides.

"If you don't want to lose your sister, then actual talk to her, jackass. Whatever you did won't hurt Shiori as much as you pushing her away forever."

Fumi let out a heavy sigh. This was for the best, wasn't it? She was tired of running.

Shiori moved her hand. Fumi half-expected a slap, and she flinched when Shiori cupped her cheek in her hand. "I could never hate you, Onee-chan. Whatever it is, we can confront it together."

Fumi merely nodded. She was afraid if she opened her mouth, all that would come out would be pitiful sobs.

Shiori shifted her attention. "Thank you for your assistance, Amanda-san."

Amanda shrugged. "If your deadbeat sister got away without having to face the music, this whole fiasco would've been for nothing." She guided the blade of Shiori's sword to her shoulder guard. "Let's wrap up this family drama."

Shiori smiled. She delivered the final blow of the Revue, Amanda's shoulder guard dropping to the stage. Shiori plunged her sword into the mark at centre stage. "Position Zero."

_ "Wakarimasu." _

* * *

They were returned to the top of the Full Moon Tower, grouped tightly in a circle bathed in the glow of the Philosopher's Stone.

"That damn giraffe could've at least dropped us off at our dorm room," Fumi said. "I'm too exhausted to walk down all those stairs."

"Amanda was complaining about the stairs earlier," Ichie noted. "You two are so alike."

"I agree," Shiori said with a giggle.

"Eh? I'm way more like Ichie," Amanda complained.

"Ichie's nothing like you, thankfully," Fumi said stiffly.

"Ooh, is that praise I hear?"

"Hardly!"

Shiori grabbed the sleeve of Fumi's uniform. Though innocuous a gesture, it caught the attention of the entire group, and the banter was forgotten as they remembered why they were here in the first place.

"I'm gonna call it like it is," Amanda said. "This is awkward as hell." She pointed at the Yumeoji sisters. "You two, sort out this drama. I'm getting out of here before things get too heavy."

"I'll go with you," Hannah said. She was dying to know what had happened between Fumi and Shiori, but she wasn't so self-absorbed not to realize that the sisters needed space right now.

"I'll give you guys a tour," Ichie offered. "I can show you the crater Amanda's balrog made."

"Actually, I'd like you to stay," Fumi said. "Um, if that's okay with you," she said to Shiori, who nodded her consent. "It's just that... I think I need you there for me."

Ichie was stunned. She needed a moment to recover. "Anything for you, Fumi. By the way, next time you have something heavy on your mind, just talk to me about it. Okay?"

Hannah too was taken aback. She had never seen Fumi so vulnerable, wouldn't have thought her capable of it. She realized she, among others, had put Fumi on a pedestal as an Edel. As an Edel herself, she understood that pressure, but never stopped to consider that her idol had felt that pressure too.

"Before you say anything," Shiori said, "I want you to know I accept that you've discovered something else you want to do with your life. And if you didn't come to Luna Nova, you wouldn't have found love with Otonashi-san—"

"F-f-found l-love!?" Fumi spluttered. "She isn't—we're not—"

"Oh!" Shiori blushed, covering her mouth with her hand. "I thought the two of you were dating, since you're so close."

Ichie seized her opening, throwing her arms around Fumi in an unmistakably affectionate hug. "Eh? You don't want to go out with me, Fumi?"

Fumi turned a beautiful shade of red. "Uh, it's not that I don't want to... I just never thought you would... but this isn't the time for that!"

Ichie giggled and clung closer to her.

Shiori smiled, still blushing slightly. "Congratulations, Onee-chan."

"Ugh, this is so sweet I'm gonna throw up," Amanda said. She grabbed Hannah's hand and led her to the stairs. "Let's get out of here."

Hannah was about to object to being dragged around (ironically enough), but then she realized that  _ Amanda was holding her hand _ and promptly shut up.

They walked for a minute before Amanda broke the silence. "You're awfully quiet for once. Are you okay with all that?" She pointed upward at the three girls they'd left behind. "Did you have the hots for that Fumi chick or something?"

_ Oh my god, _ Hannah thought.  _ She thinks I'm jealous of Ichie? _ "I mean, having a crush on an Edel is almost a prerequisite for studying at Siegfeld, but I never looked at Fumi-senpai that way."  _ Okay, maybe a little. _ She smirked. "Are you jealous or something?"

Amanda scoffed. "Me, jealous? What do  _ I _ have to be jealous about? Just think about all the things you're going to have to do for me to make up for involving me in this mess?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Hannah ran her thumb over Amanda's knuckles and desperately hoped she wasn't making things weird.  _ God, _ she thought,  _ I'm falling for Amanda O'Neill. _ "When we get home I'll take you to that ramen place you like."

"Ramen? You're rich enough to do better than that."

"Fine, I'll take you to that  _ caviar  _ place  _ I _ like."

"That's more like it."

Hannah's heart skipped a beat in anticipation of what she was about to say. "You're going to forgive me after one date?"  _ I called it a date, _ she thought.  _ If she makes fun of me I'm going to get to the bottom of this tower the quick way. _

"Hell no," Amanda said, a devilish glint in her eye. "You're going to have to treat me to a hell of a lot of food, and help me with acting practice, and do my homework—"

"We don't have the same courses! We don't even go to the same school!"

"Then you better brush up on your calligraphy, Rosie."

Hannah sighed in relief. She was back to "Rosie" in Amanda's books. "I promise I learned my lesson. I won't stick my nose in other people's business like that again."

“Glad to hear it,” Amanda said. “Now ignore that for another hour, cuz we’re still trespassing. I’m gonna find my broom and show you my broom dancing moves.”

Hannah blushed. “I get the feeling those ‘moves’ are going to be suggestive as hell?”

Amanda winked, blushing a little herself. “Like you wouldn’t believe, Rosie.”

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 comes out in a few weeks if you don't strangle me over the cliffhanger xD


End file.
